Disposal apparatus



Feb. 25, 1958 H, B VAN HOOK 2,824,703 I DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1955 4 Sshets-Sheet 1' 4a kijf/ 5o 47 l a? "ff W n a. EN s; 49 `4:4 M. 1f l HM 4; n (76 IM a2 a a/ 5/ J 3,0 l1 ,7 llllhilh will' 45 Z. 78 "VW 45 ma /4 [60! 2?: c; 7; e

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Feb. 25, 1958 H. B. VAN HOOK 2,824,703

DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 il 20, UW". 9 INVENTOR.

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DISPOSAL APPARATUS y Filed Aug. 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 fiyA INVENTOK MMV B. `Vm fiom,f BY

Feb. 25, 1958 H. B. VAN HOOK 2,824,703

DISPOSAL APPARATUS l Filed AugVS, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A JNVENTOR.v #4W 8. MMA/oak DSPOSAL APPARATUS Harry B. Van Hook, Detroit, Mich.

Application August 8, 1955, Serial No. 527,027

Claims. (Cl. 241,-46)

This invention relates to a refuse disposal apparatus and more particularly a device for pulverizing, grinding or shredding waste matter.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel form of refuse disposal apparatus which incorporates a power driven hammer-mill in conjunction with and upon the interior of a sealed chamber and arranged in spaced relation to a screen mounted within an enclosed housing, together with means for delivering water through the said housing and for carrying the ground and shredded material outwardly through a suitable drain.

It is the object of the present invention to provide in a refuse disposal apparatus a novel housing construction and a hinged removable cover therefor, together with means for securing the cover when closed, and wherein the hinge and the securing means are interchangeable to permit the securing of the cover in one of two 180 degree related positions.

lt is the further object of the present invention to provide a novel form of grinding chamber, together with a series of variously spaced drain outlets in the bottom thereof, with all but one of said outlets closed by a suitable plug whereby upon proper location of the apparatus the most convenient drain may be utilized.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a novel screen assembly and support therefor within the grinding chamber in spaced relation to the hammermill which is adapted to extend around substantially 180 degrees of the bottom portion of the hammer-mill.

lt is the further object of the present invention to provide a novel screen support within the body of the apparatus and which will facilitate easy removal thereof for cleaning or replacement.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a safety switch upon the body of the apparatus cooperable with the cover when closed to assure that the motor drive for the hammer-mill will be de-activated until the said cover is closed.

It is the further object of the present invention to prof vide a convenient water connection upon the body of the disposal apparatus, together with a flexible conduit for delivering the water supply to the hinged cover and which remains connected there-with upon hinged opening of the said cover.

It is the further object of the present invention to form a webbing construction across the open end portion of the cover which, when closed, retainingly engages the free ends of the screen against displacement.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a novel and sharpened corrugated construction upon a portion of the interior surface of the cover for cooperation with the hammer-mill for more fully grinding the material within the grinding chamber.

lt is the further object of the present invention to provide a slotted peripheral boss upon the body of the disposal v apparatus adapted to receive a suitable sealing element for cooperative registry with the lower open end of the cover when closed.

It is the still further object of the present invention to provide a novel bearing support construction for the hammer-mill shaft, together with a suitable sealing means nested within opposed arcuate slots formed in the register- United vStates Patent vO f' 2,824,703 Patented Feb. 25, 1 958 ICC ing side walls of the body and coverthe said sealing means being adapted to sealingly engage the hammer-mill shaft upon its interior and upon itsexterior engage adjacent portions of the walls of the body and cover for hermetically sealing the interior of the grinding chamber.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective front view of the present disposal apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a perspective right side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective left side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a perspective fragmentary front elevational view corresponding to Fig. 1 showing the cover in open position.

Fig. 5 is another perspective view on a slightly enlarged scale and fragmentarily shown illustrating the interior construction of the hammer-mill and the screen mounting.

Fig. 6 is a -section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a lfragmentary section on enlarged scale taken on line 7-17 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig` 10 is a fragmentary section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 6.

Fig. l1 is an elevational section on an enlarged scale illustrating lthe shaft and body seal shown in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic wiring diagram.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, in one preferred embodiment a of the invention there is provided a stationary support for the present disposal apparatus which consists of a pair of upright longitudinally extending beams 11, whose bottom anges are suitably apertured as at 12 to permit securing thereto of a series of spaced hold-down brackets 10, if desired, one of which is shown in Fig. 3 for illustration.

Disposal apparatus body rear walls 17 and 2t) which are arranged in opposed relation and which are downwardly and inwardly converging towards their lower ends as shown in Fig. 6, and are joined together forming the bottom wall 21 which is provided with a central threaded outlet aperture 25 into which is removably secured plug 26.

As shown in Fig. 3, the rear wall 17 is suitably secured as by welding along its opposed upright longitudinal edges to interior wall portions of the side walls 14 as at points 9 for illustration, Fig. 6. Additionally, an assembled relation is further maintained between walls 14 and the rear wall 17 as by a plurality of transverse rods 18, Fig. 3, which extend between and interconnect the opposing side walls 14. Rear wall 17 at its lower end also includes the reinforcing webbing 19 which is suitably joined to the interior of side walls 14 as by welding. Upon the outer side of the arcuate front wall 2t) there are also provided one or more reinforcing cross bars or rods 14', as designated in Fig. 1.

The body of the present apparatus and which includes the curved front and rear wall portions 17 and'20, as

well as the spaced upright side walls 14, terminate in the horizontally disposed upper open end which includes the peripheral continuous boss 22 which has formed in its top surface a continuous groove adapted to supportably receive the preferably rubber sealing element 23 and which upon closure of the cover 36 generally designated in Fig. 1, is adapted for cooperatively sealing engagement with the open end thereof, as indicated in Fig. 6, to thereby define with the said body and the cover an interior grinding and shredding and pulverizing chamber, hereafter described.

Adjacent the lower end of each of the side walls 14 and upon the interior of the body there are formed a pair of transverse outlet apertures 24, one of which is shown in Fig. 6. Upon the outside of wall 14 adjacent aperture `24 there is provided the flanged plate 42', Fig. 4, secured to side wall 14 as by the studs or rivets 43 and which plate has an annular central internally threaded portion 43 adapted to threadedly receive a suitable drain pipe titting, such as element 71 shown in Fig. adapted for connection to a suitable sewer drain as by the drain pipe 72, Figs. l and 4.

While there has been described three drain outlets at the bottom of the body, it is contemplated that plugs will be threaded into at least two of said outlets. Accordingly, any of the three outlets may be used, depending upon the particular environment or working conditions confronted in the installation of the disposal apparatus.

Semi-circular or U-shaped ledges or shoulders 27 are formed upon the interior surface of each of the upright side walls 14 spaced inwardly of front and rear walls 17 and 20 which are adapted to supportably receive the outer arcuate edges of the unitary screen 2S.

Spaced bosses 29 are mounted upon interior portions of walls 14 at their upper ends spaced inwardly of shoulders 27 and cooperable with said shoulders for receiving therebetween the upper free end i portions of screen 28.

Accordingly, upon opening of the cover 36 to the position shown in Fig. 5, the screen 28 is free to be manually withdrawn from either side of the body.

Extending rearwardly from upper portions of the side walls 14 at their upper ends and adjacent the open end of the said body are a pair of bosses 30 which are transversely apertured to receive therethrough the shaft 31 which provides a horizontal hinge support for the spaced depending apertured bosses 38 which extend downwardly from a corresponding rear end portion of cover 36.

Projected from the opposite sides of the side walls 14 at their upper ends are a pair of parallel spaced bosses 32 which are transversely apertured to receive therebetween the bolt or shaft 33.

As shown in Fig. 8, in the upper surfaces of side walls 14 and centrally thereof there are provided a pair of semi-circular recesses 34 adapted for cooperative registry with a similar pair of semi-circular recesses 35 formed in the upright side walls 37 of cover 36.

Cover construction The present cover construction for the disposal apparatus herein generally indicated at 36 has a pair of upright side walls 37 in spaced relation and in vertical registry respectively with the upright side walls of the body 13. The bosses 38 which project from the side walls 37 of the cover are transversely apertured to cooperatively receive the hinge pin 31 carried upon the body 13 of the present apparatus.

A safety limit switch 39 is mounted within a portion of the top wall of the open end of body 13 and is Hush therewith and includes a spring-biased contact element 40 adapted for registry with a corresponding side wall 37 when the cover 36 is closed over the body` as in Fig.

h1, to thereby close the electrical circuit from a suitable power source to an electric motor 81 which drives the hammer-mill in the manner hereafter described and which, through a suitable lead wire 10S and a control switch 104, is so interconnected to a source of electrical energy as to effect an operation of the mechanism of the hammer-mill only when the said cover is in closed position. This prevents an accidental starting of the turn-mill while someone is inspecting the body of the apparatus or has a hand down into a portion thereof, and this will prevent accidents.

The said cover 36 includes a pair of upwardly and inwardly curved opposing front and rear walls 41 and 42, respectively, whose lower ends substantially merge with and form a continuation of the opposed front and rear walls 17 and 2d, respectively, to thereby define between said body and cover an interior pulverizing, grinding and shredding chamber to function in the manner hereafter described. Here, also, the respective opposing front and rear walls 41 and 42 are suitably interconnected at their marginal edges with their side walls 37 as at points 37', for example, by welding.

There is an additional reinforcing bar 44, as shown in Fig. 5, which extends across and between side walls 37 of the cover for further reinforcing the complete assembly.

Towards its upper end the front wall 42 of the cover terminates in the outturned straight wall portion 45 which cooperates with a corresponding straight wall portion 46 at the upper end of the arcuate rear wall portion 41 of the cover to thereby define with the said side walls 37 an inlet 47 adjacent the top portion of the cover and to one side thereof, as shown in Fig. 6.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention there is shown an elongated hopper or trough 4S, one end of which is snugly projected into the inlet 47 and secured therein by a series of transverse bolts and nuts 5%. The hopper 48 includes in the preferred embodiment herein the upright side walls 49 which at their upper ends terminate in the angularly and outwardly diverging walls 51 dening a hopper inlet 52. in this connection, the said hopper is one form of hopper construction which might be employed with the present grinding apparatus, it being understood that any suitable hopper may he employed for this purpose, such as will project the material through the opening 47 at the upper end of cover 36.

Referring to Fig. l, there is shown in dotted lines a rectangularly shaped gate 54 arranged within the hopper and which is transversely pivoted at its upper end as at 53 within the upper portion of the hopper to thereby provide a hinged obstruction with respect to the inlet 47 and to normally prevent the outward splashing of water during the operation of the grinding apparatus. When the material is introduced through the hopper inlet 52, naturally the gate 54 will be swung inwardly temporarily and by gravity will return to a substantially upright position.

VUpon the forward end of the cover and projecting forwardly of the front wall 42 are a pair of spaced horizontally disposed bosses 55 which are bifurcated at 56 and are adapted to cooperatively receive the shank 58 of theeye-bolts S7 which are swivelled upon the rod 33 as in Fig. 5. When the cover is closed as shown in Fig. 1, the said eye-bolts, with cooperating washers 59 and nuts 60, are adapted to lremovably secure the said cover in closed position.

It is contemplated thatrthe hinge bar31, as Vwell as the locking bar 33, may be used interchangeably with respect to the cover 36 and accordingly, the said cover may be mounted upon the body in one of two degree related positions,tas desired. For example, under certain conditions it may be desired that the inlet to the hopper face in one direction, rather than the other.

.with a horizontally disposed lower open end adapted for .registry with the correspondingly disposed open end l'of the body, Formed across the open end of the cover and adjacent its opposite front and rear wallsthere are provided a pair of transverse webbing elements or plates 61 and 62 which extend radially inward in opposed relation and are adapted as shown in Fig. 6, to partially overlie free upper ends of the screen 28 to retain the same against accidental displacement and to thus secure the screen in the position shown. This webbing furthermore prevents material from dropping into the space forwardly or rearwardly of the said screen 28 and to thereby assure that all material dropped through the inlet of the cover will be projected onto the hammer-mill and the said screen.

A suitable water inlet opening 63 is formed through the side wall 37 of the cover as indicated in Fig. 6, and is adapted to receive the pipe elbow 63 which is suitably secured to the said wall as by threading thereinto, and which elbow has secured at its outer end one end of .the flexible conduit 64.

The opposite end of said conduit is projected over the open end of the upright pipe 65 which is mounted within the spaced laterally projecting bosses 66 and 67 secured upon one of the side walls 14 of the body. The pipe 65 at its lower end is closed by the element 68. Water inlet pipe 70 adapted for connection to its source of water pressure is joined to the upright water pipe 65 by the intermediate conventional T fitting 69.

Mounted upon the exterior of the side walls 37 of the said cover, as by the fasteners 74, Fig. 3, are a pair of laterally arranged bearing supports 75 which carry suitable bearing elements 90, through which is journaled and supported the transverse shaft 76 forming a part of the present hammer-mill construction. Said shaft extends through the registering opposed semi-circular recesses 34 and 35, Fig. 8, formed in adjacent portions of the vertically aligned side walls 37 and 14, respectively, of the cover and body. However, a suitable sealing means, hereafter described, in conjunction with Fig. 7 is interposed between the said shaft and the portions of the said side walls which define recesses 34 and 35 for sealingly engaging the same and for preventing moisture from coming out from the grinding chamber when in operation, as more fully described hereafter.

Upon the interior of cover wall 41 are a series of sharp corrugations or ridges adapted to Cooperate with `the hammer-mill construction for further breaking up ,the

particles of material.

Power drive mechanism Secured upon one end of shaft 76 there is provided in the preferred embodiment of the invention a double pulley 77 which is interconnected with a corresponding pulley 78 on the shaft 80 o fj electric motor 81 by the pulley belt 79 to thereby establish a driving relation to the shaft 76 which' forms a part of vthe conventional hammer-mill construction shown in Fig. 5. v f

Motor 81 issuitably secured .as by bolts 83 to the angularly adjustable plate-82vwhose one end ispsitioned between lower portions of walls 1`4 and pivotally con- :nected thereto as at 84, Fig. l. The opposite end of motor mounting plate 82 has a central boss 85 through which is threaded the depending bolt 86 adapted for adjustable and supporting engagement with the transverse channel '87 secured by the fasteners'SS to portions of the support beams 11.

' Accordingly, by manual adjustment of bolt 86, it is possible to regulate the inclination of motor support 82 and'accordingly, the tension within'the' pulley belt 79.

As shown -in Fig. 3, the protective shield 89 is posiitioned over the pulley belt 79 and the respective pulleys 77 and 78 and which is s-uitably secured to portions of the body 13. However, this shield isomitted from the .other illustrations in the drawings.

r'fhe'pre-sent. hammer-mill'. construction is of a con- -ventional type and includes a series of preferablysquare plates 91 which are suitably keyed or otherwise secured tov shaft 76, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and arranged in longitudinally spaced relation upon shaft 76 with a series of spacer washers 92 interposed between the said plates.

Upon the four corners of each of the plates 91 there are projected therethrough the elongated shafts 93, which respectively interconnect the said plates at their outer corners and also provide a mounting for the apertured inner ends of the respective elongated rectangularly shaped hammer plates 95, suitable bolts being employed as at 94, Fig. 7, for securing the said shafts 93 with respect to plates 91. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the said hammers 95 are arranged loosely upon the said shafts 93 and at their outer ends have similar transverse apertures 96 whereby the said hammer plates may be removed and rearranged end to end as the outer portions shown in Fig. 6 become worn. This construction of Aa hammer-mill is conventional and no specific claim is made to the internal construction of a hammer-mill itself, except as it forms an element of the combination of structures hereinabove described for making up the cornplete disposal apparatus.

As shown in the drawing, the hammer plates 95 are secured at their inner ends respectively to the respective parallel spaced transverse mounting shafts 93 and thus project outwardly from the four corners of the respective mounting plates 91 and are adapted during power rotation of shaft 76 for crushing and grinding impingement upon the material which has been introduced through the cover into the grinding chamber above the screen 28.

It has been found that upon operation of the present hammer-mill construction that the material so introduced within the cover will be broken up into nely divided particles and will be in most cases flushed through the apertures formed in screen 28 and washed downwardly into the bottom of the body 20-17 and out one of the outlets as the outlet 24 for conduction through the pipe connection 71 and 72 through a suitable trap and to a sewer or other drain.

As shown in Fig. l1, there is a special type of seal which has general utility but which in the preferred embodiment of the invention is positionable within the opposed recesses 34 and 35 in the central portions of the registering side walls of the body and cover to provide an effective seal of the interior of the grinding chamber from the exterior of the present device.

The assembly thereof is illustrated further in Figs. 7 and 8.

Seal construction The present seal includes the annular preferably metallic body 9S having opposed inwardly directed annular flanges. Positioned within said body is a flexible yielding annular seal 99 formed of rubber or equivalent sealing material and which is retained' within the said body between its flanges and which has an outer converging annular wall portion 10i) which isadaptednfor wiping engagement with the outer surface of shaft 76, for illustration, which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1l, but which is also shown in assembly in Fig. 7,. I coiled spring 101, in a conventional type .of c onstruction, is positioned within body 98 and inwardly of the rubber seal 99 normally urging the converging portion 108 thereof into Contact with shaft 76.

Mounted upon the exterior of body 98 there is also provided an annular flexible ring 102 of a rubber or equivalent construction, and this element is adapted to cooperatively engage the wall portions in the side walls 14 and 37 which define the opposedrecesses 34 and 35 to thereby establish a sealing relation between the shaft,

as well as between the body of the seal and the said walls which form parts of the body and cover of the present mechanism, and to Vthereby assure an effective seal of the internal grinding chamber.

Mounted upon the outer ends of body 98 are a pair of discs 103, which are of greater diameter than the rubber ring 102 and which are adapted to overlie and to operatively and retainingly engage against the respective inner and outer wall portions of the side walls 14 and 37 which define the said recesses 34 and 35.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the said rings 103 are suitably secured to the said body 98 as by cementing or by brazing, or may be secured in any other convenient manner for this purpose.

Thus there is provided a self contained and very effective seal, which, while having general utility, is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with the present disposal apparatus for sealing the interior of the grinding chamber from the exterior thereof.

The diagrammatic wiiing illustration of Fig. 12 shows fragmentarily a coiled spring 106 for normally maintaining the switch element 40 or plunger, shown in Fig. 5, in an open condition. It is contemplated that upon closing of the cover 36 the said plunger 40 will be projected into engagement with the contact 39 forming a part of the electrical circuit S to thereby automatically close Vthe circuit so that when the starting switch 104 is closed,

the motor 8.1.. will be energized for driving the hammermill construction.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the claims which follow for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A seal adapted to engage a rotative shaft extending through an apertured wall, comprising an annular metallic body having opposed inwardly directed radial annular flanges, an internal annular seal of iiexible material mounted within said body adapted for peripheral sealing engagement with said shaft, an annular flexible seal mounted upon the exterior of said body for sealing engagement with the edges of the wall which bound its aperture, and a pair of spaced discs mounted upon and secured to opposite sides of said body, of greater diameter than said outer seal adapted to retainingly engage opposite sides of said apertured wall.

2. In a refuse disposal apparatus, a body having a horizontally disposed upper open end and opposed downwardly and inwardly converging front and rear walls interconnected at their lower ends forming the bottom of said body, there being an outlet in said body adjacent its bottom adapted for connection to a drain, an arcuate screen supportably nested within and below said open end spaced from said front and rear walls and extending laterally across said body, a power operated hammermill rotor partially within said open end journaled and supported thereon inwardly of said screen, a cover hingedly mounted upon the body with a lateral inlet and having a horizontally disposed lower open end registering with the open end of the body and secured thereon, completing with said body an enclosed pulverizing, grinding and shredding chamber, said body and cover including vertically registering side walls, there being opposed semi-circular slots formed in said registering side walls, spaced bearings centrally mounted upon the upper end of the body outwardly of said slots, said hammer-mill rotor including a driven shaft extending through said slots and bearings, a sealing ring mounted in said slots including flexible inner and outer annular sealing elements respectively engaging said shaft and the slot dening portions of said side walls, and means on opposite sides of said ring retainingly engaging opposite sides of the corresponding side walls.

3. In a refuse disposal apparatus, a body having a horizontally disposed upper open end and opposed downwardly and inwardly converging front and rear walls tit) interconnected at their lower ends forming the bottom of said bodythere being anoutlet in said body adjacent its bottom adapted for connection to a drain, an arcuate screen supportably nested within and below said open end spaced from said front and rear walls and extending laterally across said body, a power operated hammermill rotor partially within said open end journaled and supported thereon inwardly of said screen, a cover hingedly mounted upon the body with a lateral inlet and having a horizontally disposed lower open end registering with the open end of the body and secured thereon, completing with said body an enclosed pulverizing, grinding and shredding chamber, said body and cover including vertically registering side walls, there being opposed semi-circular slots formed in said registering side walls, spaced bearings centrally mounted upon the upper cnd of the body outwardly of said slots, said hammermill rotor including a driven shaft extending through said slots and bearings, a sealing ring mounted in said slots including flexible inner and outer annular sealing elements respectively engaging said shaft and the slot defining portions of said side walls, and opposed annular discs secured upon opposite sides of said ring of greater diameter than said slots retainingly engaging opposite sides of the corresponding side walls.

4. The disposal apparatus of claim 2, a water intake pipe mounted on said body adapted for connection with a source of Water under pressure, there being a water inlet formed in said cover towards its upper end, and a flexible conduit interconnecting said pipe and water inlet.

5. In a refuse disposal apparatus, a body having a horizontally disposed upper open. end, opposed sidewalls and opposed downwardly and inwardly converging front and rear walls interconnected at their lower ends forming the bottom of said body, there being an outlet in said body adjacent its bottom adapted for connection to a drain, substantially semi-circular ledges in said side walls inwardly of said front and rear walls, an arcuate screen nested upon said ledges and extending laterally across said body, bosses extending inwardly from said side walls adjacent opposite upper ends of said ledges and spaced inwardly therefrom, the opposite upper free ends of said screen being retainingly positioned between said bosses and ledges, a power operated hammer-mill rotor partially within said open end journaled and supported thereon inwardly of said screen, and a cover hingedly mounted upon the body with a lateral inlet and having a horizontally disposed lower open end registering with the open end of the body and secured thereon, completing with said body an enclosed pulverizing, grinding and shredding chamber, said screen, on opening of the cover, being upwardly slidable over said ledges for removal from the body.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 261,297 Bolthof July 18, 1882 265,192 Walling Sept, 26, 1882 358,593 Cheney Mar. 1, 1887 811,679 Williams Feb. 6, 1906 1,185,620 Blum June 6, 1916 1,241,935 Dellert Oct. 2, 1917 1,457,092 Stanfield May 29, 1923 1,700,819 Bert Feb. 5, 1929 1,752,290 Ammon Apr. l, 1930 1,858,594 Marcy May 17, 1932 2,435,527 Arpin Feb. 3, 1948 2,453,006 Feight Nov. 2, 1948 2,609,996 Layberger Sept. 9, 1952 2,678,169 Tullis May 11, 1954 2,736,585 Riesing Feb. 28, 1956 2,743,951 Ayers May 1, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 602,746 Great Britain June 2, 1948 

